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The issue with Polamalu is there is NO ONE behind him. Will Allen and Ryan Mundy are free agents. Robert Golden and Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith were special-teams players only (5th and 6th safeties on our roster last season). Do we realistically think that one of them can step up and start, and the other could be the primary backup to both spots? Safety is our weakest position, depth-wise. I think we will consider drafting 2 safeties, even if we keep Troy and Clark, so there is no way that I see cutting Troy loose.

Deebo may go, even though it hurts to part with him (but Tomlin made a similar decision with Joey Porter when his age and salary weren't in line), but at least we have Worilds behind him, which is better than anything we have at safety right now.

There is also a possibility that Ike could be sacrificed if that means we are able to re-sign Lewis. Keenan and Cortez are both ready for prime time in my option, and if we let an emerging Lewis go in order to hold onto a playing-the-back-nine-of-his-career Taylor, then that is a mistake in my opinion.

The team likely feels comfortable letting Hampton test free agent waters because they know that they have McLendon, Ta'Amu, and Fangupo.

Similarly, they'll let Starks see what he can get in free agency since they have Gilbert and Adams.

There is even a possibility that they could make Keisel a cap casualty if they feel they can get by with Heyward-McLendon-Hood as their starting front 3.

Rather than restructuring Ben and Heath, I could see them trying to work out actual extension for those guys.

Colon is the biggest question-mark, because his injuries make him unreliable, but we don't really gain any real degree of added cap room by cutting him loose (and restructuring his deal will only make things worse), so they may just try to hold onto him for another year if they are unable to re-sign Foster (I'd rather have Beachum as a Trai-Essex-like fall-back option at multiple positions than a guy we need to start on day one).

I'd say Timmons and Woodley are the primary candidates for restructuring (I suppose they could add Ben and Heath to this list if they are unable to extend their deals, but I would prefer extension to restructures in those cases).

Timmons, Woodley & Antonio Brown have to be restructured. You shave massive amounts just by doing that. Ben is pretty obvious too- but at some point, that contract of his will destroy the roster if they keep restructuring him. Already this season he's at a $20m+ cap cost.

Timmons, Woodley & Antonio Brown have to be restructured. You shave massive amounts just by doing that. Ben is pretty obvious too- but at some point, that contract of his will destroy the roster if they keep restructuring him. Already this season he's at a $20m+ cap cost.

Troy's cap hit for 2013 will be $10,137,500.
That is a ton of $$$ for a guy who has had trouble staying healthy the last 4 years.
Our defense did just fine w/o him last year with W.Allen as the starter
IMO he is not the impact player he once was and it is time to say goodbye to his beat up 31 year old body.
Love ya Troy but not at over $10 million this year.
If he is cut I believe his cap hit for 2013 would be the last 2 years of his signing bonus accelerated, which equals $5,027,500
The $$$ freed up could be used to resign W.Allen and Troy could always come back for cheaper if noone else offers him a contract.
These times are very scary right now and the tough decisions will need to be made.

Timmons, Woodley & Antonio Brown have to be restructured. You shave massive amounts just by doing that. Ben is pretty obvious too- but at some point, that contract of his will destroy the roster if they keep restructuring him. Already this season he's at a $20m+ cap cost.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers have found themselves in quite the pickle this off-season. The team is reportedly $14 million over the NFL‘s 2013 salary cap of $121.1 million and this is before signing any player in free agency. What are some of the tough decisions the Steelers might have to make in order to get back under the cap?

The Steelers are in an unfortunate position where they will most likely be unable to re-sign any of their double-digit free agents. This also means the team will not be able to go out into the market and acquire new players to help improve on their 8-8 record from last season. On top of this dreadful news for Steeler nation, the team may also be forced to cut ties with fan favorite veterans in order to preserve money.

Pittsburgh currently sits at $135.31 million and that includes $47.51 million in bonuses alone. The Steelers also have linebackers LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons on contract for an incredible $163.25 million over several years obviously. Timmons and Woodley could both be asked to restructure their contracts while it is a very real possibility that Harrison will be released in order for the team to save $5.1 million.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is receiving $102 million over an eight-year span, the largest contract on the team. He will consume $19.59 million of Pittsburgh’s salary cap in 2013, which means the organization may have no choice but to give him another extension. This will help reduce the cap hit for next season but it by no means fixes the overall problem with one swing of the bat.

Other players that will most likely be asked to restructure their contracts are tight end Heath Miller and wide receiver Antonio Brown. The 24-year-old Brown recently stated that he wants to be a member of the Steelers for life, which means he will most likely do what it takes to stick around. Meanwhile, Miller, who is arguably the top offensive weapon for Roethlisberger, may not like the idea of things changing quickly around him but will probably play ball because he wants to remain in Pittsburgh as well.

Obviously, free agents such as Mike Wallace, Rashard Mendenhall, Larry Foote, Casey Hampton and Plaxico Burress are out of the picture. This is a huge blow for a team that struggled to remain competitive with them on the squad. If the Steelers want any chance of competing in the AFC North in 2013 they will have to do so with quality draft picks.
In my opinion, Steelers fans have every right to be angry at what the organization has done. Whoever’s idea it was to put together some of these ridiculous contracts deserves to be fired. I cannot imagine the Rooney family is happy how their money is being spent, especially for a .500 team that misses the playoffs

We might not lose them all, but considering the issues at hand expect a majority of them will be gone. Now that doesn't count other players who will be gone like Mundy and a few others. ? denotes players on the bubble, who might stay.
How long can they restructure contracts when it could hurt them down the road?
For the most part the FO usually comes through as the Steelers are always competitive, a down year sometimes, but they regroup and try to maintain a winning team for the present and future.

Time to go 4-3 and start youngins' in the secondary. Other teams have gone way young all at once in their secondaries like the Pats and Giants. Why can't we?

$$$$ The 4-3 would allow us to get players on the field sooner and assess whether to invest in them earlier versus the LeBeau way of getting a one year sample like we have for Keenan Lewis before needing to commit to a long contract. That approach has gotten us into the cap situation we have with so many older players we were forced to commit to because the "mastered" the system.

Last edited by Oviedo; 02-08-2013 at 09:14 AM.

Playing Fantasy Football does not qualify you to be the in the front office or on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are professionals and you are not!